By Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500

Where can we find the best Yoga teacher? Who is the most mystical of Gurus? If I climb one more mountain, will the answers of my purpose in life be revealed when I get to the other side? These are questions each seeker (sadhaka) wants answered.

Many people qualify as seekers. They search for a way to improve the quality of their lives. Yet, they spend their lives on a quest to find a special person with answers to their life purpose, in remote places – only to find the true Yoga teacher within.

You can find the seeds of motivation by studying with great teachers, Swamis, and Gurus; but inspiration is cultivated within. For inspiration to take hold, it must be deeply rooted within one’s being. One becomes driven by a focused and true purpose in life.

For the sadhaka, this may require some guidance from a competent Yoga teacher, with knowledge of the higher forms of Yoga. The average practitioner of a Yoga exercise class has no idea what Maharishi Patanjali is discussing in the Yoga Sutras.

To add to this Yogic educational mystery, a sadhaka may read about raising awareness and consciousness in books, but he or she sees only asanas during Yoga class. What is one to do? If a Yoga practitioner has begun to “run into a wall,” there are answers in books and self-study.

The deception of Hatha Yoga is to look for visible forms of personal transformation and to think that is all there is. If that were so, Yoga would be the oldest recorded exercise system, and that’s it. There would be no need to bother with any other aspects of Yoga.

Meditation, pranayama, Yamas, and Niyamas would have little meaning, if Yoga were just another method to build muscles. The deeper truth is that long term practice of Hatha Yoga will create physical mastery, but with proper guidance, the sadhaka becomes the master of his or herself.

A multitude of changes on the mental, emotional, and spiritual level will occur through daily practice of any form of Yoga. This takes time, but self-mastery is the end result. Awareness, intuition, and a trained mind are the rewards of long- term Yoga practice. If you have learned well, you will be able to pass the knowledge on to the next generation of Yogis.

On the other hand, not everyone wants to teach. This is not a crime; but a lifetime of acquired knowledge is worth “passing the torch” to those who are seekers without answers.

© Copyright 2009 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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